Comparative studies of suppression of malignant cancer cell phenotype by antisense oligo DNA and small interfering RNA.

One of the distinguishing features of malignant tumor cells is the ability to proliferate in an anchorage-independent manner; methods that effectively suppress this phenotype may be applicable to the therapeutic inhibition of the malignancy of cancers. Interfering RNA is a potentially powerful tool for cancer therapy because of its specificity of target selection and remarkably high efficiency in target mRNA suppression. We studied the use of two knockdown strategies, antisense oligo DNA (AS-ODN) and small interfering RNA (siRNA), and showed how the anchorage-independent proliferation of malignant cells could be blocked efficiently.

Using process diagrams for the graphical representation of biological networks.

With the increased interest in understanding biological networks, such as protein-protein interaction networks and gene regulatory networks, methods for representing and communicating such networks in both human- and machine-readable form have become increasingly important. Although there has been significant progress in machine-readable representation of networks, as exemplified by the Systems Biology Mark-up Language (SBML) (http://www.sbml.

Plasminogen activator/plasmin system suppresses cell-cell adhesion of oral squamous cell carcinoma cells via proteolysis of E-cadherin.

The participation of plasminogen activator/plasmin system in the expression and function of E-cadherin was examined in oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cells. Treatment of SCC cells with plasminogen reduced the Ca2+-dependent cell aggregation. SCC cells expressed E-cadherin at the cell membrane, and released a small amount of soluble E-cadherin at 80 kDa in the culture medium.

Analysis of the rice mutant dwarf and gladius leaf 1. Aberrant katanin-mediated microtubule organization causes up-regulation of gibberellin biosynthetic genes independently of gibberellin signaling.

Molecular genetic studies of plant dwarf mutants have indicated that gibberellin (GA) and brassinosteroid (BR) are two major factors that determine plant height; dwarf mutants that are caused by other defects are relatively rare, especially in monocot species. Here, we report a rice (Oryza sativa) dwarf mutant, dwarf and gladius leaf 1 (dgl1), which exhibits only minimal response to GA and BR. In addition to the dwarf phenotype, dgl1 produces leaves with abnormally rounded tip regions.

Transcutaneous iodine absorption in adult patients with thyroid cancer disinfected with povidone-iodine at operation.

Povidone-iodine is used as disinfection in patients undergoing many kinds of operations. Several cases of thyroid dysfunction induced by transcutaneous absorption of povidone-iodine have been reported in small infants. However, transcutaneous absorption was not clearly reported in adults.

[Managing small pulmonary nodules in head and neck malignant tumors].

The recent increase in the use of helical CT has produced a higher detection rate of small pulmonary nodules than in conventional CT application, and has presented a serious problem in their treatment. We carried out a retrospective study to identify a clinical standard in the management of those nodules in head and neck malignant tumors. The subjects were 108 in-and out patients (87 men and 21 women) with head and neck malignant tumors who received radiation therapy in our university hospital between 2003 and 2004 (ages ranging from 25 to 93 years; mean, 66 years).

The Rice brassinosteroid-deficient dwarf2 mutant, defective in the rice homolog of Arabidopsis DIMINUTO/DWARF1, is rescued by the endogenously accumulated alternative bioactive brassinosteroid, dolichosterone.

We have identified a rice (Oryza sativa) brassinosteroid (BR)-deficient mutant, BR-deficient dwarf2 (brd2). The brd2 locus contains a single base deletion in the coding region of Dim/dwf1, a homolog of Arabidopsis thaliana DIMINUTO/DWARF1 (DIM/DWF1). Introduction of the wild-type Dim/dwf1 gene into brd2 restored the normal phenotype.

Cytokinin oxidase regulates rice grain production.

Most agriculturally important traits are regulated by genes known as quantitative trait loci (QTLs) derived from natural allelic variations. We here show that a QTL that increases grain productivity in rice, Gn1a, is a gene for cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase (OsCKX2), an enzyme that degrades the phytohormone cytokinin. Reduced expression of OsCKX2 causes cytokinin accumulation in inflorescence meristems and increases the number of reproductive organs, resulting in enhanced grain yield.

Detection of nuclei in 4D Nomarski DIC microscope images of early Caenorhabditis elegans embryos using local image entropy and object tracking.

Background: The ability to detect nuclei in embryos is essential for studying the development of multicellular organisms. A system of automated nuclear detection has already been tested on a set of four-dimensional (4D) Nomarski differential interference contrast (DIC) microscope images of Caenorhabditis elegans embryos. However, the system needed laborious hand-tuning of its parameters every time a new image set was used.

The ectopic expression of phenylalanine ammonia lyase with ectopic accumulation of polysaccharide-linked hydroxycinnamoyl esters in internode parenchyma of rice mutant Fukei 71.

Both polysaccharide-linked hydroxycinnamoyl esters (PHEs) and lignin are biosynthesized via the phenylpropanoid pathway. In the abnormal internode parenchyma of the rice (Oryza sativa L.) mutant Fukei 71, which has a defective recessive gene (d50), the biosynthesis of lignin and PHEs differs.

Crown rootless1, which is essential for crown root formation in rice, is a target of an AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR in auxin signaling.

Although the importance of auxin in root development is well known, the molecular mechanisms involved are still unknown. We characterized a rice (Oryza sativa) mutant defective in crown root formation, crown rootless1 (crl1). The crl1 mutant showed additional auxin-related abnormal phenotypic traits in the roots, such as decreased lateral root number, auxin insensitivity in lateral root formation, and impaired root gravitropism, whereas no abnormal phenotypic traits were observed in aboveground organs.

[Superselective intraarterial chemotherapy using low dose CBDCA and Pirarubicin with concurrent radiotherapy for head and neck cancer].

To study the effects of superselective intraarterial chemotherapy with low-dose CBDCA, Pirarubicin, and concurrent radiotherapy on head and neck cancer, we compared primary cancer response and histopathological effective grades in 66 patients (more than T2) divided into radical and preoperative radiotherapy groups. The radical group (n=33) showed a 75.7% response in primary cancer, i.

Structure of water incorporated in sulfobetaine polymer films as studied by ATR-FTIR.

The structure and hydrogen bonding of water in the vicinity of a thin film of a sulfobetaine copolymer (poly[(N,N-dimethyl-N-(3-sulfopropyl)-3'-methacrylamidopropanaminium inner salt)-ran-(butyl methacrylate)], poly(SPB-r-BMA)), were analyzed with band shapes of O-H stretching of attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectra. The copolymer could be cast as a thin film, of approximate thickness 10 microm, on a ZnSe crystal for the ATR-IR spectroscopy. At an early stage of sorption of water into the polymer film, the O-H stretching band of the IR spectra for the water incorporated in the film was similar to that for free water.

Nanoscale friction: kinetic friction of magnetic flux quanta and charge density waves.

In analogy with the standard macroscopic friction, here we present a comparative study of the friction force felt by moving vortices in superconductors and charge density waves. Using experiments and a model for this data, our observations (1) provide a link between friction at the micro- and macroscopic scales, (2) explain the roundness of the static-kinetic friction transition in terms of thermal fluctuations, particle interactions, and system size (critical-phenomena view), and (3) explain the crossing of the kinetic friction F(k) versus velocity V for our pristine (high density of very weak defects) and our irradiated samples (with lower density of deeper pinning defects).

Self-assembled monolayer of a pepstatin fragment as a sensing element for aspartyl proteases.

A novel disulfide, which carried two pepstatin fragments at both ends, was prepared by the coupling of 11,11'-dithiobisundecanoic acid (DTUA) with a fragment (Val-Val-Sta) carrying a n-hexyl end (Pepsta(h)). The compound obtained (DTUA-Pepsta(h)) formed a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on a gold electrode and vacuum-evaporated gold thin film as proven by cyclic voltammetry and reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy, respectively. When the SAM-modified gold electrode was incubated with a solution of aspartyl protease, pepsin, a decrease in both anodic and cathodic peak currents and an increase in potential difference were observed in the cyclic voltamogram of hydroquinone as a probe, whereas a coexistence of free pepstatin fragment inhibited these phenomena, indicating the specific binding of pepsin to the fragment at the exterior of the SAM.

Raman spectroscopic study on the structure of water in aqueous solution of alpha,omega-amino acids.

The structure and hydrogen bonding of water in an aqueous solution of various alpha,omega-amino acids were analyzed using the contours of the OH stretching in the polarized Raman spectra. From the relative intensity of the collective band (C value) corresponding to a long-range coupling of the OH stretching in the aqueous amino acid solutions, the number of hydrogen bonds disrupted due to the presence of one amino acid molecule (N(corr) value) was evaluated. The N(corr) value for glycine was slightly positive, whereas with an increase in the number of methylene groups between ammonium and carboxylate groups, the N(corr) value gradually increased.

A novel cytochrome P450 is implicated in brassinosteroid biosynthesis via the characterization of a rice dwarf mutant, dwarf11, with reduced seed length.

We have characterized a rice (Oryza sativa) dwarf mutant, dwarf11 (d11), that bears seeds of reduced length. To understand the mechanism by which seed length is regulated, the D11 gene was isolated by a map-based cloning method. The gene was found to encode a novel cytochrome P450 (CYP724B1), which showed homology to enzymes involved in brassinosteroid (BR) biosynthesis.

Orientational effect of surface-confined cyclodextrin on the inclusion of bisphenols.

The molecular recognition of various kinds of bisphenols (BPs) and a bisphenol A-polymer conjugate (BPA-polymer) by a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of thiolated beta-cyclodextrin (CD) on a gold electrode was examined using cyclic voltammetry (CV). Based on the inhibitory effect of BPs on the inclusion of hydroquinone (HQ) as a probe by the surface-confined CD, the association constants (K(assoc)) of BPs with the immobilized beta-CD were estimated. The K(assoc) values for BPs with the SAM of 3-dithiobis(undecanoylamido)-3-deoxy-beta-cyclodextrin (DTUA-beta-CD) were smaller than those in the free beta-CD system reported previously.

OsMADS22, an STMADS11-like MADS-box gene of rice, is expressed in non-vegetative tissues and its ectopic expression induces spikelet meristem indeterminacy.

We report the cDNA sequence and gene expression patterns of OsMADS22, a novel member of the STMADS11-like family of MADS-box genes, from rice. In contrast to previously reported STMADS11-like genes, whose expression is detected in vegetative tissues, OsMADS22 is mainly expressed during embryogenesis and flower development. In situ hybridization analysis revealed that OsMADS22 expression is localized in the L1 layer of embryos and in developing stamen primordia.

Rice plant development: from zygote to spikelet.

Rice is becoming a model plant in monocotyledons and a model cereal crop. For better understanding of the rice plant, it is essential to elucidate the developmental programs of the life cycle. To date, several attempts have been made in rice to categorize the developmental processes of some organs into substages.

Two cases of colonic tuberculosis presenting with massive melena.

The clinical symptoms of colonic tuberculosis are variable, among which massive melena is extremely rare. Herein, we report two cases of colonic tuberculosis representing with massive melena, both of whom never had active pulmonary tuberculosis. The first case was a 55-year-old woman.

The PANTHER database of protein families, subfamilies, functions and pathways.

PANTHER is a large collection of protein families that have been subdivided into functionally related subfamilies, using human expertise. These subfamilies model the divergence of specific functions within protein families, allowing more accurate association with function (ontology terms and pathways), as well as inference of amino acids important for functional specificity. Hidden Markov models (HMMs) are built for each family and subfamily for classifying additional protein sequences.

Resistance of zwitterionic telomers accumulated on metal surfaces against nonspecific adsorption of proteins.

Telomers of N,N-dimethyl-N-(3-sulfopropyl)-3'-methacryloylaminopropanaminium inner salt (SPB), 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC), and N,N-dimethyl-N-(1-carboxymethyl)-2'-methacryloyloxylethanaminium inner salt (CMB) were prepared by UV irradiation in the presence of N,N,N',N'-tetraethylthiuram disulfide and a disulfide-group-carrying iniferter (a compound which pursues initiation, chain transfer, and termination), Cys-BDC, which had been prepared by coupling N,N-diethyldithiocarbamoylmethylbenzoic acid succinimidyl ester with cystamine dihydrochloride. The telomers formed a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on a gold electrode and a monolayer of colloidal gold deposited on a glass plate, as confirmed by the increase in potential difference (DeltaE(p)) of the voltammogram for hydroquinone as a probe using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and the increase in absorbance using localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) absorption spectroscopy, respectively. Nonspecific adsorption of various proteins onto the surfaces of various telomer SAMs was examined from the decrease in peak current (DeltaI) using CV and the absorption increase at 550 nm using LSPR absorption spectroscopy.